Matt Cooper’s North Korea visit will be judged by his reports when he returns

Former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman is surrounded by journalists as he arrives at the Beijing International Airport on his journey to Pyongyang in North Korea. Irish radio presenter Matt Cooper can be seen in the background. The Today FM presenter is accompanying Rodman to the North Korean capital in a personal capacity.Chad O'Carroll

Matt Cooper has the strongest chance of any Irish citizen to meet North Korea’s Supreme Leader today since Mary Robinson’s failed attempt in 2011.

While the late Kim Jong Il snubbed Robinson’s group – The Elders – and caused the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter-led delegation to come home empty-handed, the circumstances of Cooper’s visit in 2014 are very different.

He joined former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman for a basketball event between a team of former NBA all-stars and a senior national North Korean team which was watched in-person today by North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jong Un.

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